Season five of Justified is now in its home stretch.  With only three episodes left, there are still some elements to interlace if we’re to look back on this as a cohesive season.  “Weight” contained some big moments, including the loss of two great supporting characters and a visit to one of Harlan’s sleaziest rogues who we haven’t seen since season 3.  More on this episode of Justfied after the jump.

After Dewey's bold display of righteous defiance last week, "Weight" saw him bumbling his way through an attempt to cash in the bricks and hightail it outta Harlan with his two favorite hookers.  As sorry as I feel for him this season, the guy just never learns.  Even his own kin never seem to be on his side, so why would he think he could trust Dickie Bennett of all people?  Now after all that trouble, he's empty-handed with no place to turn.  He's spun his back on Boyd and Daryl, and like Raylan said, who's looking out for him now?  I don't see this season ending well for him.  While I still think he's going to play a major role in the way it plays out, he's doomed if he stays around town much longer.

It was a pleasure watching Jeremy Davies reprise his role as Dickie, the cunning final member of the Bennett clan.  After Boyd I always felt that Dickie was the second most charming rogue on Justified.  Although his screen time was brief, he acted the hell out of that scene with Raylan.  I'd love to see him come back for the final season somehow.

I had to think a bit on why Boyd would let Albert go when he had him dead to rights for framing Ava.  The diminutive twerp is obviously a good liar, and he was bullshitting about being in love with Ava - saying how his despair drove him to shank himself.  It seems his words affected Boyd though, who has done his share of dirt because he loves Ava so much.  Maybe he saw a bit of himself in this whimpering little man who claims to be so over the moon for Ava that he was willing to stab himself (twice).  And maybe that scared him.  He seemed genuinely shaken up at the end of that scene.  Boyd's shown that he's willing to kill for her, but maybe he's nearing the end of his rope.

This was Michael Rappaport's best episode yet.  He was particularly good in the scene where Kendal spills the beans about Jean Baptiste's death - he must've gone through a dozen emotions in that moment, all which could be seen on his face.  Daryl Crowe Jr. is a loathsome brute, but Rappaport manages to inject enough patriarchal feelings in him to raise the character above complete despicableness.  Then again, he did kick the shit out of Wendy then immediately force Kendal to become his blood brother, so yeah he's a scumbag too.

The confrontation between Daryl and Wendy happened quickly, but it culminated from 10 episodes worth of venom.  For Daryl, it's all about "the clan" - being a Crowe is hugely important to him.  He can't understand why Wendy would want to break off from the family, and take Kendal with her.  That comment he made about her being ashamed of Kendal bit really hard.

A lot of that aggression towards Wendy also stemmed from the loss of Danny.  Here's another Crowe I could never completely hate.  As a dog lover, I gotta admit that his story about taking care of Chelsea made me well up a little.  Too bad we’ll never get to see if the 21 second rule would’ve worked out in his favor.  A.J. Buckley had a damn good run as a sociopath with a soft spot for dogs, even if his character felt a bit artificial compared to people like Raylan, Boyd, and even Dewey.

Meanwhile in prison, Ava’s story continues to not feel like part of the show.  The stabbing of Judith in the chapel was a harrowing, intense scene, but Ava still doesn’t have a drug pipeline set up.  I feel like between her story and Boyd trying to get heroin into Harlan for nearly the entire season, Justified is still carrying around some deadweight.  After Lee Paxton, Mara, and Mooney were disposed of, I really thought the season would pick up.  It’s still more entertaining than most shows currently on television, but with only three episodes left this season, let’s hope some cohesiveness is introduced.  Hell, I have faith.

LAST CALL

• Art plans on protecting Alison from the Crowes himself…I have a bad feeling about this.

• "Lotta confidence for a man who wears shorts with combat boots." - Raylan on Dewey.

• Judith was terrifying during her fight with Ava.  Her face looked possessed for a few seconds there when she was choking her out.  Something tells me she would've made a great villain on the outside.

• As Katherine, Mary Steenburgen's cameo was short and sweet.  It was cute to see Duffy get all mushy with a woman.  I look forward to seeing what her "assessment" is all about.

• Duffy and Picker’s frustration with these redneck hoods is still funny to me.

• Dewey doing fractions: "I got all of it.  I mean half of it.  The whole half!"

Body Count: 3 (Chelsea counts!)